SHORT TAKES ON THE DRIFTING WRECKAGE – AT 5:09 P.M. ET: 

ANTICIPATION – The Super Bowl starts very soon.  As I understand it, two western villages – Denver and Seattle – are involved.  The game will be played in East Rutherford, New Jersey, but the NFL wants you to think it's being played in New York.  The mayor of East Rutherford wasn't even invited.  I mean, not even an end zone ticket.  He doesn't complain, though.  It's New Jersey.  If you complain, they take you on an unscheduled trip.  THIS JUST IN:  The ultra-leftist city council of Seattle has asked that both teams be declared winners, to avoid the appearance of cultural clash and geographic oppression of western peoples.  The league is considering it.

KRISTOL TO ABC – From The Politico:  "Bill Kristol, the editor and publisher of The Weekly Standard, has joined ABC News as a contributor, 'This Week' host George Stephanopoulos announced on Sunday.  A source familiar with the negotiations says the former Fox News commentator has landed with ABC in a handshake agreement that they're about to sign. ABC News spokesperson Heather Riley also confirmed Kristol's move in an email.  The agreement, one source said, includes regular appearances on the Sunday show, as well as special events and other political-relaed events. But there's also a window that allows him to do other shows on cable television."  Good.  ABC News can use all the conservative contributors it can get.

TROUBLE IN THE RANKS – From WaPo:  "Labor leaders who have spent months lobbying unsuccessfully for special protections under the Affordable Care Act warned this week that the White House’s continued refusal to help is dampening union support for Democratic candidates in this year’s midterm elections.  Leaders of two major unions, including the first to endorse Obama in 2008, said they have been betrayed by an administration that wooed their support for the 2009 legislation with promises to later address the peculiar needs of union-negotiated insurance plans that cover millions of workers."  When are laboring people going to realize that Obama, and his elite crowd, care nothing about them.  The Democratic Party hasn't been a true labor-friendly party since the early 70s.  The party's betrayal of labor led to the Reagan Democrats of 1980.  It's time for more Reagan Democrats.

February 2, 2014